Archive for Get A Job
Unique CV’s: Here is one by Yocheved Golani
Posted by: | CommentsLast week I posted an article about making your CV stand out and challenged readers to send in their creative CV’s and I would post them. The first person who took me up on this offer is Yocheved Golani. Below is a copy of her stand-out CV.
Don’t be just another number, make yourself count!
Posted by: | CommentsAKA – Making your CV stickout when trying to get a job in Israel
I have spoken about this idea in the past and I will say it again and again. Don’t be just another number, make yourself count! If you see a job you want, show them that you want it. Don’t just send in a CV like everyone else, make yours stick out like a sore thumb! You want your CV to be at the top of the pile. The whole point of the CV is to get the interview not to get the job. Once you are at the interview that is your time to shine.
Take a look at this link: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/30-artistic-and-creative-resumes/
You will see 30 creative CV’s that will get your creative juices flowing. When you redo yours, send it in to us so we can post your creativity and help yo get noticed.
Should you pay a recruiter In Israel a fee to find you a job?
Posted by: | CommentsI just saw the following posts on an email list. Take a read and then I’ll post my comments and I would love to hear yours.
Someone told me about a company that’s charging people looking for work 100 NIS per month to help them find a job.
Where I come from, it’s the hiring companies that pay the headhunters, not the potential employees.
Otherwise, what’s the motivation for them to find someone a job, as long as they’re being paid by the month?!
Am I crazy? Am I missing something, or is this a ripoff scheme? Are things *so* different in this country? Is this another example of right-to-left?
Mike
Not only that but once they find you a job, you need to pay them something every month out of your salary.
Sara
Now my first feeling after reading this was to jump on the guy trying to ripoff people in their time of need, but before I do lets first see if there is some way it would make some sense.
When you are in need of a job, I’m sure you would be willing to pay 100 NIS or even 1000 NIS if someone could find you a job that you would be happy with. So if I said I will give you a job that includes a salary and benefits and all you have to do is give me a few hundred NIS is there anyone outhere that would not pay that fee?
So the question is not really on the service, but it then becomes a question of the person offering you the service. We are assuming that the guy is just looking to make some money off people to “find them a job” and not really putting any effort into actually finding you a job.
Now lets say this guy has found 10 jobs for all 10 people that came to him in April. Let’s also say he gave you the names of those 10 people and you called each of them and they call confirmed that this guy helped them successfully get a job. Would you then still feel he is ripping you off?
So you need to put things in perspective and look into the person offering the service and do proper due diligience. Then you can come to a conclusion.
The “normal” way of doing recruiting and this is how all the big firms do it is to charge the employer a monthly fee to help find the best candidates for an open position and then they also take between 1-3 months of the persons salary as a commission. In todays current market most of these firms will drop the retainer fee and work just on commission.
Wanted: Native English Speakers to teach English in Israel – Death to the Juice!
Posted by: | Comments
I know the picture is not an exact case of horrific spelling errors in English in Israel, but it does make the point. I’m sure you have all seen grammar errors when translating Hebrew to English and to tell you the truth there is no real reason for it. There are plenty of native English speakers in Israel that you can call before pushing the print button. Put down your pride a bit and let an American help you!
Well one way to fight this epidemic is by hiring native English speakers to teach English in Israeli schools. Something that the goverment of Israel is now making a push to do. This is a good thing. So if you have the patience to teach English and need a good job, now is the time. You can read all about the opportunity in this article.
In part it says:
Every few years Israel tries unsuccessfully to lure Diaspora Jews into making aliyah and becoming English teachers in its schools. Now, they are trying again with a new angle – the economic woes in the United States.
“There is always a shortage of English teachers and you have to ask, where are you going to find new ones?” Dr. Judy Steiner, Chief Inspector for English Language Education in Israel told Haaretz.
Given the current financial problems in the United States, the Ministry of Education and the Jewish Agency hope to find more Anglos willing to consider an exciting future in teaching English to Israeli youth.
And it seems that the program “English Teachers for Israel” has succeeded before it has really begun. Several dozen people from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom have already been accepted after answering advertisements in their local aliyah centers.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE
Create your own Job Opportunity
Posted by: | CommentsHaving trouble finding a job? Not finding a job you want to do? Why not try this on for size? Create your own job opportunity!
What do I mean by that? Let me give you an example of what I did.
As you probably read in this post about Mey Eden and Tami4 (if not you should read it if you have either one or are thinking about either one), I am a big believer in not drinking water in Israel straight from the tap. When we made Aliyah from Passaic, NJ on the very first Nefesh B’Nefesh flight in the summer of 2002, one of the first things I did was ordered Mey Eden spring water.
There was only one problem. I was right off the plane and could hardly dial a cell phone number much less talk in Hebrew well enough to order something as simple as spring water. It wouldn’t have been so bad if a live person would have picked up the phone, but the beautiful Hebrew voice system stopped me at Hello. I remember asking my neighbor to help me order the machine and a few bottles of water which she did.
But that got me thinking. I was probably not the only native English speaker that would want the delicacy of spring water and there were probably hundreds of others who would rather speak directly with a native English speaker then in broken grammar school Hebrew. So I called up Mey Eden headquarters and asked to speak with someone in marketing and I made my pitch.
I told them that I would become their Anglo representative to Anglos all over Israel. I will set up a different number with just English voice mail. They would give me a monthly budget and I would run all the advertising campaigns in perfect English and I told that I was sure to become one of the best salesmen the company had ever seen.
Well he went for the pitch, liked what I had to say and invited me to meet with him the very next day at Mey Eden. I was actually a bit excited. Here I was, just a couple of weeks off the plane and I already had an interview with one of the most successful and recognized companies in the country. It was a job opportunity I was excited about and knew I could do well.
So I went to the meeting (took a cab as I didn’t know the bus systems yet) and gave again the same pitch. I was meeting with the descision maker and he impressed. He offered me a job on the spot, but then we came to the salary situation. The truth is the starting salary he offered me wasn’t bad, but I wanted to make monthly risidual commissions on every client I brought them and he was only willing to give me a one time commission on each sale. This was a deal breaker for me as I felt why should I bring in a client who will be bringing you monthly income for several years and only get paid once? I wasn’t even asking a lot, but I knew for me to be motivated and to spend the amount of time necessary for it to be a success it would have to have potential to bring in a big and residual income.
He told me to think about it and so I went home and discussed it with my wife and the next day I called him back and turned it down.
But the point of the story is that I knew my strengths. I knew what would motivate me and what I would like to do. I saw a missing opportunity for a company and so I created a position for myself that they didn’t know they needed (and which they still need in my opinion).
So here is my challenge to you. There must be somoene reading this blog post who is in need of a job. Read my post on Mey Eden vs Tami4 and then pick up the phone and call Tami4. Explain how you feel you can become the anglo representative of the company and with the market being what it is you are 100% sure you can not only sell their product to Anglos who don’t have any solution, but that you can convince a number of people to switch from bottled water to filtered water. Someone outthere can do this and get a job from an opportunity they created with a great company with a great company. Will it be you? Why not pick up the phone and find out.
New business forum launched in Bet Shemesh to help Anglos find jobs
Posted by: | CommentsI am a big fan of people coming together to help others in times of need. The job market in Israel has been devestating in Israel and I would venture to say has had a bigger effect on Anglos.
Reason being that the Anglo lifestyle is usually higher as well as most of the jobs being cut are in the high-tech field which was hit the hardest in Israel and where a majority of Anglos are employed. Also noted is IDT having shut down their call center has left hundreds of Anglos without jobs.
But the good people of Bet Shemesh are not going to sit back and wait for something to happen. They are banding together and creating work shops, lectures and other ways to help Anglos in Israel earn a living.
Below is text from emails sent to the Bet Shemesh Email list that will provide more details.
The Beit Shemesh Business Forum has been formed to help unemployed Anglos deal with the procedural, financial and social aspects of unemployment in Israel. The Forum’s goals are to provide as much assistance and information as possible as people navigate the system.
The Beit Shemesh Business Forum is looking for people and businesses who can help unemployed persons.
Here’s a number of ways:
1) The Forum is putting together a list of professionals who can help in
different spheres- whether they be law, finances, vocational, social and
more. If you would like to be put on this list, please E-Mail bsbizforum@gmail.com
Please note that we ask that you offer services either for free or at a
discounted rate
2) The Forum is looking for people willing to write articles and posts
for the blog- http://bsbizforum.blogspot.com
3) The Forum is putting together a Small Business Forum comprised of
professionals in marketing, law, accounting, sales and more. The goal is for
this forum to meet once or twice a year and evaluate business plans
submitted to the group by people looking to start a business. This forum is
completely voluntary and is meant to save prospective small business owners thousands of shekels. If you would like to offer your time, please E-Mail bsbizforum@gmail.com.
The Beit Shemesh Business Forum announces 5 seminars aimed at helping
unemployed Anglos in Beit Shemesh.
Please note: You MUST RSVP that you are coming as space is limited.
The seminars will be in English. All seminars will take place in the Sheinfeld neighborhood- exact location will be forwarded to those attending.
All seminars are FREE OF CHARGE.
Monday May 18- Restructuring your Mortgage/Debt
Speaker: David Baruch, RBS Bank Hapoalim Branch Manager
Time: 8pm
Tuesday May 26- Starting a Small Business in Israel
Panel Discussion with
Sheila Schwartz, store owner- PC Integrity
Gary Swickley, export business owner- Blue and White Kids
Time: 8:30pm
*Monday, June 1- Navigating the System: The Ins and Outs of Lishkat Taasuka and Bituach Leumi**
*Speakers: TBA Time: 8pm
**Monday, June 8- I’m Home All Day- what do I do now?**
*Speakers: TBA
Time: 8pm
**Monday, June 15- Living in Israel on an Israeli Salary**
*Baruch Labinsky- Financial Planner, Israel Resource Network
Time: 8pm
If you would like to suggest a topic for a future seminar, please E-Mail
bsbizforum@gmail.com
For more info on the Beit Shemesh Business Forum:
http://bsbizforum.blogspot.com
In Part 1 we talked about the importance of articulating what you do as results, not as a job title or task.
Now that you can articulate the results you can bring to the fortunate company who will hire you, it’s time to make a list of companies who can likely benefit from such results.
The idea here is to come up with a list of companies, whether you know someone there or not. Whether they’ve advertised an opening or not.
1. Make a list of companies where you believe you can make an important difference.
2. Next: Identify the person or people in that company who need the results you can create and have the authority to hire, or at least, some kind of budget.
How can you find these people? Talk to friends. Use tools like Facebook and LinkedIn. Help wanted ads. Attend events they may attend and so on. It may take some digging and persistence but when you are looking for a job, looking is your full time job. Treat it that way with focus, discipline and by being systematic.
It may take a few links to get to the end of the chain. Ask about the outcomes: “Who in your company really cares that the user interface will be the software equivalent of good poetry?”
“Why, that would be Jane Smith,” you are told.
3. Learn more about Jane, her responsibilities and interests. The better you understand someone, the easier it is to present yourself as just the person they need.
People will and should guard company information and privacy. Even so, if you ask open questions that don’t back your contact into a corner, you’ll get some useful information much of the time.
Once you know who you are looking for, the challenge is to move things along to the next step – a phone call with Jane and then a meeting. (Notice I didn’t say “interview.” More about that in Part 3.)
SOME POINTERS:
- Your list of companies could be long – and probably should be. But work on a handful at a time so that you can do a proper job.
- You can never know where success will eventually come from. While you put one foot in front of another, keep your eyes and ears open for unexpected opportunities.
- Remember to focus your conversations on results, as we discussed in Part 1.
There’s a tremendous difference between saying “I help companies implement controls and manage risks” and saying “I’m the one who ensures you won’t wake up one morning up six months from now, open a newspaper and discover that you are personally liable for someone else’s irresponsibility or outright theft.” Who would you hire?
In Part 3 we’ll share some pointers for making contact and beginning a relationship with your potential new boss.
PS – If you’d like a very simple Excel spreadsheet to track your job hunting efforts, please send me an email and I’ll get it over to you. dovgordon at gmail dot com
Guy Kawasaki on 10 ways to use LinkedIN to find a job
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More and more people are using Social Media to help find a job and this is a great idea. I am unsure of the stats, but I once read that the vast majority of job openings don’t get listed, but get filled from current employees.
Besides the fact that this makes a lot of sense, it does tell you that if you are looking for a job, you have a better chance to use your network to find a job then by answering a classified ad.
The most obvious Social Network website to use is LinkedIN since this network focuses on being a business network.
Guy Kawasaki wrote a great post called “10 Ways to use LinkedIn to Find a Job“. As always Guy is right on and it is a must read.
Elsewhere I’ve offered advice for executives and business owners who want to attract top talent on how to write a help-wanted ad that attracts talent and drives everyone else away.
In the next series of posts, I’ll share the converse: How to be the last man (or woman) standing so they point and say “You. Can you really do that for us if we hire you?”
“Why yes, of course. But you better act fast…”
There are three aspects to landing a job in tough times when jobs are scarce:
1. Articulate what you do as results, not as activities.
2. Find a company where they need someone who can create the results you can create.
3. Locate, meet and listen to the boss whose life you can brighten.
Step 1: Articulate what you do as results, not as activities.
This exercise should be your very first step in your hunt for a job. Be able to articulate clearly and with confidence the results you can produce for the right, deserving company.
This sounds easy, but people get stuck here all the time. They talk about their qualifications rather than about the results they can achieve.
If you are a programmer, don’t talk about your credentials and years of experience. Talk about how you can write code that the end user perceives as nothing short of software poetry.
If you are a receptionist, your value might be your ability to make every caller, on the phone or in person, feel welcome and valued.
If you are a marketer, your value might be your ability to get prospects talking so they share information they normally keep to themselves. Any company lucky enough to hire you will have information and understanding of details the competition just guesses about. Of course this provides measurable advantages when it comes to decisions about product design and marketing.
If you are looking for a management position, reflect on your ability to reduce time and energy wasted by your subordinates. Reflect on how you infect others with your passion and average people find themselves producing extraordinary results.
If you are a chef, looking for a job at a restaurant, it isn’t just about cooking good food. It’s about running an efficient kitchen. What is important to the restaurant owner or hotel manager about how a chef runs the kitchen?
In short: be able to able to articulate what will be objectively and observably different once you are in the picture.
Exercise:
- What results have I created in previous positions? What results can I create in my next position?
- List everything that comes to mind. What you do is multi-faceted so be sure to identify your value from several directions.
- Check you answers: Have you written about results, OUTCOMES, or activities?
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In Part 2, we’ll look at ways to find companies who can use and will appreciate your value and how to make your initial approach.
Finally, in Part 3, you’ll get fresh ideas for making people want you on their payroll.
